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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
TORONTO (AP) -- Petr Nedved made the Toronto Maple Leafs pay for
their wide-open, end-to-end gambling game.
|  | | Toronto's Mats Sundin, center, plows through New York's Mathieu Schneider as Sylvain Lefebvre, left, comes in to help. |
The Rangers center had his third career hat trick to lead New
York to a come-from-behind 5-3 win Saturday night over the Maple
Leafs.
The Leafs played their third game in four nights, but it was
their reckless, go-for-broke offensive habits that had coach Pat
Quinn shaking his head.
Toronto held three one-goal leads, but the Rangers tied it each
time and then pulled away with two unanswered goals in the third period.
"We have to get back to doing basic things that were successful
for us earlier," Quinn said. "In some cases we've become a lot
more of a gambling team like we were at the start of last year. And
when we don't get rewarded, it gets worse."
Toronto has lost four of five after a season-best six-game
winning streak, and will begin a four-game road trip Tuesday at
Boston.
"I'm less concerned about (our opponents) than I am about us," Quinn said.
For the Rangers, it was their second win in a row, both over
Toronto. They beat the Leafs 3-2 in overtime at Madison Square
Garden on Wednesday. Nedved had gone 12 games without a goal before scoring that night.
"In both games we've been exchanging a lot of opportunities," Nedved said. "I was just lucky enough to get the goals."
Nedved scored once in each period Saturday night, including the power-play goal in the second.
The game-winner, with eight minutes left, was a seeing-eye snap
shot from near the right boards that eluded Toronto goalie Glenn
Healy high on his blocker side.
"I told him if I were him, I would pick up the puck from the
opening faceoff and shoot it every time," Rangers goalie Mike
Richter said. "He's got a great shot, it's just an exceptional
shot. He can come with speed and shoot it, disguise it. He does
pretty much what he wants with the puck."
Nedved entered the game with only eight goals, but has prospered
of late centering a new line with fellow Czechs Jan Hlavac and
Radek Dvorak.
"He's shooting and he's making plays and he's creating
opportunities for himself, all the things he wasn't doing before,"
Rangers coach John Muckler said.
Adam Graves and John MacLean had the other goals for New York.
Kris King, Mats Sundin and Sergei Berezin scored for Toronto.
King's goal was his first of the season.
The Leafs' regular goalie Curtis Joseph was given the night off
after allowing four goals in a loss to Pittsburgh on Friday night.
Tie Domi, with another strong game for Toronto, barely missed
tying the game with four minutes left. After a close shot, the puck
slid across the crease behind Richter.
MacLean sealed the win for New York by finishing off a pretty
two-on-one with Valeri Kamensky two minutes later.
Richter kept the Rangers in the game with several key saves in
the first and stopped 31 shots to earn the victory.
The teams exchanged power-play goals in the second. Sundin
scored on a give-and-go one-timer on a pass from Steve Thomas.
Rangers forward Alexandre Daigle was in the penalty box at the time
for taking down Bryan Berard on a partial breakaway.
A pointless right hook from Leafs defenseman Chris McAllister to Eric Lacroix in the corner led to a Rangers power play and Nedved's second goal.
Nedved's waist-high deflection of a Kevin Hatcher point shot was allowed to stand after video review.
King got his first goal five minutes into the first on a wrist
shot from the left circle that rose sharply above Richter's
blocker.
Nedved tied it five minutes later on a screen shot that went
between defenseman Tomas Kaberle's legs before beating Healy.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
NY Rangers Clubhouse
Toronto Clubhouse
RECAPS
NY Islanders 5
Boston 2
Buffalo 7
Ottawa 4
NY Rangers 5
Toronto 3
Washington 3
Atlanta 0
Detroit 5
Anaheim 3
New Jersey 4
Phoenix 3
Nashville 6
Chicago 3
Philadelphia 6
Pittsburgh 2
St. Louis 4
Vancouver 2
Calgary 3
Tampa Bay 2
Florida 4
San Jose 2
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